Hello Dolly

I recently spent an afternoon with an old friend, someone I’ve known for over 45 years, and gave her a little makeover with a leftover ball of handspun and help from another generous knitter. Poor Dolly had been woefully neglected and forgotten. I found her in the bottom of a box of memorabilia in the back of my closet when doing some spring cleaning and organizing. I was really glad to see her, but she stared accusingly at me, “Where have you been?”, she seemed to say.

I remember when I fashioned outfits for her out of torn napkins, but thought I could do better now, all these years later – so I poked through my handspun leftovers to make her a special vintage style dress to fit her 60’s hairstyle.

Using a free pattern – Some Tiny Hugs Mini Kimono – designed for charitable knitting for little angels born too soon, I fashioned the top of the dress. Once past the button holes, I knit front and back in every stitch to double the stitch count and start the full skirt. After knitting in stockinette until the length seemed about right, I added a few repeats of the scallop lace pattern and secured it on Dolly with some old buttons from my Grandma’s button tin.

Comments

She’s an oldie alright! She’s been in my possession for the last 48 years or so. Her eyes are fading and she has some tire tread marks on her back from a time when I left her naked in the driveway, but other than that – she’s still a doll!

Hi There! I made the dress from the Mini Hugs pattern that I linked to in the blog post. Yes, it is knit on two needles. I changed it a little bit by adding some length in stockinette stitch, then the scallop lace pattern. You can follow the link in the post to the original pattern. It’s so cute and tiny, and perfect for modifying into a little dress. Have fun!